Parish Church of St Mary

Parish Church of St Mary

This is a parish church with origins in the 11th and 12th centuries, with later medieval additions in the 15th century, further work in the early 18th century, and a major restoration carried out in 1861–62 by architect Charles Kirk. The building is constructed of coursed ironstone and limestone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings, and is roofed in Welsh slate.

The church comprises a west tower, nave, north aisle, chancel, and south porch. The west tower dates to the 12th century and rises through three stages. It is built of coursed rubble with 15th-century ashlar diagonal buttresses. On the south side is a 12th-century window, while the west face carries a 15th-century three-light window. The top stage contains 12th-century double belfry openings, each with a Saxon-type mid-wall shaft and monolithic arched head topped with volute capitals. The tower is crowned with a 15th-century castellated and pinnacled parapet featuring gargoyles.

The nave retains elements from the 12th century onwards. Its south wall is built of coursed limestone rubble and contains one 12th-century round-headed window with a half-roll hood mould and a restored 14th-century two-light window with cusped trefoil heads and human mask label stops. There are 15th-century stepped buttresses. The north wall of the nave displays 15th-century triple clerestorey lights with chamfered and moulded arches, and large gargoyles at the eastern angles. The nave roof is 19th-century work, embattled with pinnacles and panels containing cusped lozenges and shields, resting on eight 15th-century corbels (presumably reset) carved to represent four musicians, two large cats, one grotesque figure, and a George and Dragon; three corbels have grotesque masks on their undersides.

The north aisle was rebuilt in the 19th century using coursed rubble and is lit by pointed arches. The chancel has an ogee-headed 15th-century window on its north wall, two 19th-century windows, and a decorated eaves cornice. Its east wall was rebuilt in the 19th century. The south wall of the chancel contains a double 19th-century light window and a recut 12th-century round-headed window, with a further ogee-headed window matching that on the north side. An inscription on a common wall stone records a restoration of 1702.

The south porch is a 19th-century addition built of limestone ashlar with a cross fleury on the gable. The south door is of particular significance: it has a restored Saxon lintel carved with standing figures of saints beneath an architectural arcade, and above it sits a 12th-century tympanum featuring a billet-moulded hood mould, a double order of star motifs, and a central panel filled with diagonal trellis lines. The central parts of both lintel and tympanum were cut during the 13th century to insert a pointed arch, but this intrusive opening was removed in the 19th century and an approximation of the original design substituted.

Interior

The interior of the nave is defined by a north arcade of two bays supported by a single early 12th-century circular pillar with a scalloped cushion capital and square abacus. The responds are half columns with partly restored scroll mouldings. The arches contain one step and a chamfered inner arch; traces of an earlier arch are visible at the east end of the arcade. The tower arch was restored in the 19th century but reuses original 12th-century materials, including voussoirs and probably the capitals. It has three orders: the outer arch is double billet-moulded, the middle arch carries a roll moulding with deep chevrons, and the inner arch is a step with angle rolls. On either side are two nook shafts with shallow carved leaf and patera capitals; the imposts continue as a stringcourse across the west nave wall.

The chancel arch is flanked by two 15th-century double lights with flat heads. Although heavily restored in the 19th century, the half shafts of the chancel arch date to the 12th century, as do the capitals, which carry cable moulding, stiff leaves or feathers, volutes, and human masks.

The south wall of the chancel contains a stained-glass window in a marble-lined opening dedicated to Henry Cecil Thorold (killed 1902, South African War), executed by Kempe. The east window of the chancel is also by Kempe. The furnishings and fittings throughout date from Charles Kirk's restoration of 1861–62.

A monument to Sir John Thorold (died 1716) stands on the north nave wall. It features two draped standing figures with a scrolled cartouche above and was carved by William Kidwell.